I'm Still Trying
by readingqueen811
Summary: Sometimes a third point of view is all it takes to observe the sides of romance. Follow Megara, daughter of Athena, who has taken a special liking to observing Percy and Annabeth. First chapter: Fireworks.
1. Chapter 1

This story was thought of listening to Taylor Swift's first album over and over, and playing solitaire. Let's just say that the video card on my computer stopped working, so we had to get a new one. When we got it, our internet wasn't installed for a couple of days, so I was stuck playing solitaire, writing, and listening to Taylor Swift over and over again for my only entertainment. I got inspiration from the fanfiction Writing To Mommy by Toe Walker, all the Fireworks stories, and of course, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus. If I got inspiration from them, that means I don't own them. Okay, now that we've cleared that up, I have a message to all you people out there (and I know there will be some) who don't like this story; Why bother reading it and commenting? It doesn't matter to me what you say, it only matters if I liked writing this. If you don't like this story, then stop reading it. Believe me, I once went through the phase when I would write hateful comments on everything I disliked even the tiniest bit too, but I've learned since then that no reviews hurt more than hateful ones. As my godmother's family says; If you're not going to say anything nice, don't say anything at all. So I give you;

Είμαι ακόμα προσπαθώ

Smiles,

Readingqueen811

"_A kiss that speaks volumes is seldom a first edition."_

_-Clare Whiting_

"_I always have the most fun on the Fourth of July. You don't have to exchange any gifts. You just go to the beach and watch the fireworks. It's always fun."_

_-James Lafferty_

Meg giggled to herself as she watched Annabeth dig through her camp bag to find her blue converse. It was pretty easy being under her care; except for when Annabeth was fretting about stuff like architecture, Calculus, and most importantly BOYS! Meg was one of the younger children of the Athena cabin. She was only eight, and had been brought to camp by a satyr after he saw her laughing at his hooves. Anyway, Annabeth had been worrying about finding her blue converse because blue was this-one-guy-she-liked's favorite color. Meg wasn't too sure about if the converse made him pay her more attention, but she played along.

"_I _know where your Converse are." She innocently said as she held her hands behind her back and swayed from side to side.

"_Really_?" Was the reply she got, "Would you happen to have anything to do with the fact that they're not anywhere in here?"

"_Maybe…_but you'll have to give me information first." Annabeth sighed as these words left Meg's mouth. Meg was pleased with herself; the Stoll brothers had taken her on as sort of an apprentice in the art of thievery and lying. Being a daughter of Athena, these skills were not expected, and often resulted with her saying _I'm only eight_ and the blame being put on whoever was closest to her in the room.

"What _kind_ of information?" Annabeth on the other hand, had gotten used to such tricks by Meg and was starting to become suspicious.

"Information about this _boy_ you are trying so hard to please by wearing _blue_ converse." Meg sometimes felt like she was the only person in the _entire_ camp who didn't know who this boy was. Of course, she knew the back stories of every person in camp, but she didn't know _who_ he was.

Annabeth smiled as she ruffled her fingers through Meg's dirty-blonde hair. "You know," she started, "keep it up, and in a couple years you'll be a Hunter of Artemis."

Once again, Meg started to giggle. "Thalia's already asked me, but I know _you_ turned it down, so I want to know _who_ could be _so important_ as to keep someone from becoming an eternal maiden."

"Fine." Annabeth huffed as Meg clapped her hands. "You won this time _Megara_, but you won't get away with it next time." Meg scowled. No one except for monsters and teachers called her _Megara_. She really didn't like being named after Heracles first wife who he tore to pieces in madness. As a six year old who didn't know about demigods, it was a dream come true; she was named for a heroine in a Disney movie. Bottom line; that story becomes a _lot_ less romantic when you find out the _real_ story of Heracles and Megara.

"_So,_ who is it? Is it Will? He's cute. Or is it Mitchell from Aphrodite? I know, I know; it's Connor!" Her silvery-grey eyes glinted with delight as she listed every single boy in the entire camp, including little Harley who was even too young for _her_.

"Whoa there, don't get too excited. It's Percy."

This time, Meg clapped her hands and jumped up and down; making the bunk bed she was sitting on bounce around. "Malcolm _told_ me he saw you two in here _alone_ one time, but I never thought you liked him like _that_!"

"Shhhh." Annabeth replied holding her finger to her lips. "We don't want the whole camp knowing, do we?"

"Here's a secret," Meg said as she leaned in to Annabeth's ear to whisper to her; "I think everyone already does."

"Not everyone." Annabeth whispered back. "He's still completely oblivious." Then she sat up straight and said out loud, "Now, where are my converse?"

"Well, Connor and Travis wanted a model of a shoe so they could play some prank on the Aphrodite girls. I gave them yours, then they told me to come back and get it when I needed it."

"And you don't think they're going to prank you?"

"They'd lose their best apprentice since each other if they did that, and they want to make sure their legacy continues. Now come on!"

Meg pulled Annabeth towards the door. "Now wait a minute!" The older girl chided, "I can't go out barefoot can I?"

"Just wear the Greek Sandals Silena loaned you." Annabeth groaned, then reluctantly put the silvery sandals on before following Meg out the cabin door; leaving her exploded camp bag behind her, but not forgetting her bronze knife in case Connor and Travis really _were_ planning to prank her.

When they arrived at the Hermes cabin, they were greeted with a couple of _Hey Annabeth_'s and _Isn't she cute?_'s directed towards Meg.

"Hello Connor, Hello Travis!" Meg cheerfully said as she skipped into Cabin 11. "We're here to get Annabeth's converse back!"

"Hey Meg, Hey Annabeth." They replied unanimously, "Yeah, we were just getting done with them." Travis handed her converse back. Annabeth poked her knife in each shoe just to make sure they weren't rigged to explode chocolate or something when she put her foot in them.

"What did you do to them?" She asked, glaring at the Stolls.

"Nothing, we swear on the Styx." Connor said. Thunder rumbled outside. Meg quickly dragged Annabeth out with a quick _thank you guys!_

When they were safely back inside Cabin Six, Meg started skipping around the room chanting;

_Annabeth's got her converse back_

_They're blue, not red, or even black_

_She wears them for a special boy_

_Her flirtation's really coy_

_I hope they live more happily_

_Than Megara and Hercules!_

"Now, now," Annabeth chided, "Hercules is the _Roman_ spelling. The _Greek_ spelling of the name is Heracles, meaning Hera's glory (curse that goddess)."

"_I know that_," Meg whined in reply, "but _Heracles_ doesn't rhyme with happily! Speaking of Greek vs. Roman, you said you were going to tell me about what happened in the Labyrinth with that one god. What was his name again? It started with a J. Was it Janus?"

"Yes Meg, it was Janus. I'll tell you the story tonight before lights out."

"But then _everyone_ will hear it." Meg complained.

"Yes, but I'll just be telling it to _you_."

"Fine!" Meg crossed her arms and cocked her hip like Silena sometimes did when she was annoyed.

"The Stoll Brothers aren't the only older campers you hang out with, are they?"

"Nope." She replied in a sing-song voice.

"I'm Silena's apprentice in fashion, Clarisse's apprentice in spear fighting, Will's apprentice in archery, _Percy's_ apprentice in swordplay, Katie's apprentice in gardening, Nyssa's apprentice in metalworking, Pollux's apprentice in theatre, and of course, _your_ apprentice in strategy."

"That's really flattering Meg. Now come on, we need to go find Percy and one of us can duel him."

"More like I'll duel him and lose, then you'll duel him and win, and then punch him in the arm and say _Seaweed Brain_."

"Wow, you pick up on things fast don't you?"

"I'm gifted." She replied fluttering her eyelashes and holding her hand to her chest like Drew would.

"Let's go little diva." And so, the pair went off to the sword arena to go find Percy.

Meg blushed as Percy said hello to her. She didn't have a crush on him or anything, but it was kind of like talking to a pop star at a concert. Even though he'd been giving her swordplay lessons ever since he'd come back from that quest with Annabeth in the Labyrinth, she still got a little tongue tied around him.

"Hey Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said smiling. She'd definitely worked on her appearance since they'd talked to the Stolls. Her curly hair was brushed back into a ponytail, and she was wearing silver owl earrings. She'd taken off her dirty camp t-shirt and replaced it with a clean fitted one. No one who hadn't seen her change probably wouldn't have noticed, but Meg did.

"Hey Wise Girl, hey Meg." Percy responded as Meg smirked at the two. Come on, they had nicknames for each other and they _still_ weren't together? How oblivious could you get?

"Hi Percy!" She sang as she skipped around the arena cutting off dummies' heads with her sword _Omorfiá sti__̱__ Metamfíesi__̱_ or Beauty in Disguise. At least, that was the name she'd given it because the case was horrible, but the sword was beautiful.

"You'd better stop that." Percy nagged as he put his hand on her shoulder, "or else no one will have training dummies left, and it's only the middle of summer!"

"You sound like my dad." Meg pouted.

"Meg!" Annabeth exclaimed, teasing Percy, "We both know that your dad knows WAY more words and computer techniques than Seaweed Brain over here." It was true; her dad worked for the Apple Company and designed some software for the laptops. In his spare time, he'd designed a trivia app using all the knowledge _he_ remembered from getting his degree in history and technology at Stanford. That was what had gotten Athena's attention. Naturally, a half blood exposed to so many computers on a daily basis had to learn training sooner than usual, so a satyr came to bring her from Sacramento to Long Island Sound.

"Hey!" Percy reproved. "We haven't even started yet and you _both_ are insulting me. What is it? Pick on Percy day?"

"No," Meg cheerfully said, "it's time for my swordplay lesson!"

Percy started off by showing her a routine that he said _his_ swordplay teacher had taught him, which Meg noticed made Annabeth stiffen up. Basically, you turned your arm with your sword in it so that the other person was forced to drop their blade. Meg, being a daughter of Athena, took in Percy's posture, expression, and every body movement down to his feet, then made it better. When they started to try it in actual combat, Meg used the _new and improved_ version of the move, she called it Viper. It actually helped looking innocent when fighting Percy. She pretended to wince as Percy swung his sword near her shoulder, Percy got worried, and Meg used it to her advantage. She tried the _Viper_ on him. It was different by the fact that she bounced forward as she twisted, and stepped on his foot. The foot thing was totally an accident, but it worked. And Percy's sword, instead of clattering to the floor, flew past him and hit one of the dummies in the heart.

Annabeth immediately started clapping. "Well done Meg, a classic Cabin 6 technique; learn and improve." Percy was still looking from Meg to the dummy, Meg to the dummy where his sword still was. "Now," she started, "It's _my_ turn. Percy don't go _too_ easy on me, I memorized every move for that new move Meg just created. What was it called….?"

"Viper!" Meg sang as she skipped to the side of the Arena where Annabeth had been sitting, and sat. It was very interesting for Meg to watch their way of "flirting" sure, neither of them knew the other one was doing it, but that was what made it so much more interesting.

Will walked by the arena and stopped to say hi to Meg and watch the couple fight. "You do know the fireworks are soon right?" he murmured to Meg so they wouldn't hear.

"Yep!" She whispered back popping the 'p'. "I'm trying to get Annabeth to ask him. You and Beckendorf work on Percy. Kay?"

"Okay." The pair sat there together; Will contemplating how in Hades to convince Percy to ask Annabeth to the fireworks, and Meg sitting there, watching the way Annabeth could flirt and taking notes… mentally. When Will got up to leave, he called to Meg, ignoring their earlier whisperings which only meant he wanted the sparring couple to hear, "Don't forget Meg, our archery lesson is at noon tomorrow!" Then he winked, which _obviously _meant that they would talk more about the plan later.

"Kay!" Meg called back, still using her cheerful sing-song voice that made some people (cough*Nico*cough) want go somewhere else and hide there until she went away. "Annabeth!" She whined, "We need to go back to the cabin! I still have that reading on Theseus and the Minotaur in Greek and _you're_ supposed to be watching over me." In other words, she was sending a silent message. _Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so get your _podex_ over here before I have to come up with _another_ excuse for you to leave; you can see him later!_ Luckily, Annabeth got the message.

Meg could've said Annabeth was ecstatic about the entire fireworks idea, she would've been lying. First of all, ecstatic was too small of a word for her to use, it was, as she called it a _baby_ word. Second of all, Annabeth was _not_ very happy about this idea.

"Why the heck would I do that?" She yelled while the entire Athena Cabin looked on. "The _guy_ is supposed to ask the _girl_, not the other way around! Ugh! And he doesn't even like me! He likes _Calypso_ and that _mortal_. He would say no if I asked, and then I would embarrass myself so much that I'd have to crawl into a hole and live there for the rest of my life. Besides, even if he _did_ say yes, he always has to bring up the _sensitive_ subjects, he couldn't last even one firework without mentioning..." The rest of the Cabin 6 Campers quickly pretended to be doing Calculus, or reading the Odyssey or something like that as she turned to glare at the possible eavesdroppers. Everyone knew who she was talking about…. Luke. She couldn't even say his name these days, but it _was_ true, Percy Jackson always brought up the sensitive subjects. Still, they'd watched Annabeth and this guy for _3 years_, it was time they actually saw something _interesting_.

Let's just say that Annabeth was not so rapturous about the idea. Let's just say that a couple of mechanical pencils were broken in half. Let's just say that Meg had to drag Silena into the cabin along with half of the Aphrodite cabin and have them threaten to give Annabeth a makeover if she didn't even consider the idea. Let's just say that when Annabeth finally consented, Silena squealed and made Malcolm deaf for the rest of the day. Let's just say that in the end, Silena and Meg triumphed and immediately started planning outfits for the rest of the week up until the Capture the Flag game where she would ask him, and then finally, the real fireworks outfit. Let's just say they got a _little bit_ carried away.

"Do you think she should ride in on two golden doves or be pulled in a pink carriage by the pegasi?" Silena asked Meg as the two of them were designing the way Annabeth was going to arrive at the fireworks.

"I don't know," Meg replied, "The golden doves would be more expensive, _but_ the pegasi are harder to control."

"Good point, maybe we should go with the turn-the-creek-to-chocolate-and-have-her-go-down-it-on-a-gondala-pulled-by-Mitchell plan."

"_Or_, a sarcastic voice said from the doorway, "she could_ walk_ to the fireworks like every _normal_ couple here so that he doesn't think she's some _weirdo_." Annabeth stood in the doorway of the Aphrodite cabin, her hands on her hips and her long curly hair flowing down her shoulders… and her bronze knife glinting from the pouch near her belt. "Seriously, you guys need a life outside of planning _one_ date. I think Silena's mom can take care of it enough."

Meg pouted, but Silena just steered Annabeth over to the closet of clothes that everyone in the cabin (except for Drew) had donated. There was a hot pink sign on the door that read _Please donate to the help-Annabeth-Chase-go-to-the-fireworks-with-Percy-Jackson fund. Designer clothes accepted. No credit cards, debit cards, cash, or checks allowed. Thanks! – Silena Beauregard (head counselor of Cabin 10 and President of this charity.)_ The sign made Annabeth roll her eyes, but she didn't object.

"Now," Silena started, "What should we put you in?"

"Put me in? Are you serious? I only came in here for an outfit for the fireworks, not a makeover for the week!"

"Well, if he's going to say yes, that means he's going to have to like you, that means that he's going to have to pay more _positive_ attention to you this week, that means you are going to need some differently interesting clothes."

"What _kind_ of interesting?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.

"_Good_ interesting. Now, come on!"

They were digging through the charity closet, when Meg looked at a pair of ballet flats and said "Blue"

"What?" Silena asked.

"Blue. Percy's favorite color is blue. If she wears blue, he's bound to notice her. That means we need to make sure there's at least a _little _blue in each outfit."

"Yes," Silena agreed. "And _that_ is why _you_ are my apprentice." Meg blushed and Annabeth, once again, rolled her eyes.

So, right before dinner, the three of them picked out the semi-blue outfit that Annabeth would wear the next day. She ended up with a white V-neck shirt, a grey sweater, blue ballet flats, a blue seashell necklace, and…..

"There is no way in Hades that I am wearing shorts that short!"

"Come on Annabeth," Silena reprimanded, "they're only _mid-thigh_, Drew wanted to put you in bootie shorts, but I had to put my foot down. You've got to wear something other than your jeans, capris, and Bermuda shorts! Besides, they only look short compared to your long legs."

"That's right." Meg put in, "Since the thigh contains the longest bone in the body, the shorts are actually quite long, but also because of this, they look short. Just take a chance okay? Maybe you'll like the outfit in the morning. Anyway, you _need_ to wear your hair down for dinner and campfire. _Please?_ It'll look beautiful! Come on! _Please?_"

The only problem any of the older campers had with Meg was that she always looked so innocent and adorable for an eight year old that she could get almost anything out of them or get them to do almost anything she wanted. This was one of those times.

"Fine." Annabeth scowled, letting her curly hair out of the normal ponytail.

"Don't forget to side part it." Silena chided.

Annabeth's grey eyes shot daggers at the both of them, but did as she was told. Meg and Silena smiled as they admired their work. Sure, it was only a start, but they knew they'd be getting what they wanted this week. If only for a night.

_When the Titans all still ruled the Earth, Kronos married his sister Rhea_

The campers were singing one of their favorite songs at Campfire. It was called _Down they go_ and it was about Kronos swallowing his children. Exactly the kind of thing you wanted to sing before bed so all the younger campers would have nightmares about it. Isn't that right?

_And when they were about to have their first child he heard a prophecy-a_

_It said that one of his children would take over his throne_

_So Kronos made a plan to swallow them as they were born_

_And down they'd go, down they'd go, d-d-d-d-down they'd go_

_Down the little throne stealers would go_

_And down they'd go, down they'd go, d-d-d-d-down they'd go_

_The oracle would never have to know_

_Down they'd go_

_Well Hestia was the first child Rhea bore_

_With her dark hair, and fiery eyes, the Titans couldn't help but adore_

_But Kronos still swore he'd keep the throne his own_

_So when Rhea handed him the baby, he opened his throat_

_And down she goes, down she goes, d-d-d-d-down she goes_

_Down the beautiful dark haired girl goes_

_And down she goes, down she goes, d-d-d-d-down she goes_

_The oracle would never have to know_

_Down she goes_

Well, you get the idea. A lot of delirious campers singing a song about their great, great grandfather, or great grandfather, or grandfather, or whatever swallowing their parents or grandparents does not seem like the perfect romance opportunity. Unless you were Percy and Annabeth that night; Percy was being squished by Meg into Annabeth, and Annabeth was being squished by Silena into Percy. As the second verse started the two smiled at each other as they sang.

_Hades was the second child_

_With his evil eyes and his dark smile_

_But Kronos was still paranoid_

_So when Rhea handed him the baby, it went down the void_

_And down he goes, down he goes, d-d-d-down he goes_

_Down the maniacal godling goes_

_And down he goes, down he goes, d-d-d-down he goes_

_The oracle would never have to know_

_Down he goes_

By this time, Connor, Travis, and some of the Apollo cabin had gotten up and were doing the moves to the song. Let's just say that the Stolls' 'dancing' leaves room for improvement. But, with a nudge from Meg, Percy got up along with Annabeth, and the two did the moves too, so of course, the rest of the camp followed.

_Next came Demeter, the little girl_

_With her hazel eyes and her wheat-field curls_

_But Kronos swore the throne was his alone_

_So when Rhea handed him the baby, it went down his throat_

_And down she goes, down she goes, d-d-d-d-down she goes_

_Down the pretty fair-haired baby goes_

_And down she goes, down she goes, d-d-d-d-down she goes_

_The oracle would never have to know_

_Down she goes_

Now, for some reason, there was now crowd-surfing going on, and so Meg was picked up by someone and tossed along the arms of people around the campfire. Chiron was just beginning to realize that people were a _little bit_ more hyper at this campfire than normal. What had happened, was that the magic cups malfunctioned, and so no matter what the campers said, they got coffee, which is not the best thing for a demigod to have.

_After that, Poseidon came_

_He had sea-green eyes that sparkled like waves_

_But Kronos still just couldn't trust_

_So when Rhea handed him the baby, it went down his esophagus_

_And down he goes, down he goes, d-d-d-d-down he goes_

_Down the beautiful green eyed boy goes_

_And down he goes, down he goes, d-d-d-d-down he goes_

_The oracle would never have to know_

_Down he goes_

The campfire flames that usually never got to orange these days were shining neon pink with little sparks of blue around the edges, and Chiron was getting suspicious. After the caffeine rush, the campers had only _started_ to calm down, which meant that they'd be going at it for at least another hour.

_Rhea next had baby Hera_

_With jealous eyes and dark hair-a_

_But Kronos swore he'd keep his throne_

_So when Rhea handed him the baby, down his gullet it goes_

_And down she goes, down she goes, d-d-d-d-down she goes_

_Down the jealous little beauty goes_

_And down she goes, down she goes, d-d-d-d-down she goes_

_The oracle would never have to know_

_Down she goes_

By now, all the campers had sat back down again and were swaying to the song as they popped marshmallows that they had roasted on their swords/knives/spears into their mouths. Silena smiled at Meg who was now, for some reason, sitting next to the Stolls across the circle, because Percy couldn't take his eyes off of Annabeth's hair that was glinting in the firelight, making it look like pure gold. Meg winked back, and then went back to singing the bridge.

_Now Rhea was not too happy_

_With the way her children were eaten_

_So she talked to Gaea- her mother_

_And asked if there was any other_

_Way she could protect the baby_

_That she was now carrying_

_Gaea said to give Kronos a stone_

_And so he swallowed it to keep his throne._

_And down it goes, down it goes, d-d-d-d-down it goes_

_Down the rock disguised as Zeus goes_

_And down it goes, down it goes, d-d-d-d-down it goes_

_Kronos would never know_

_Down it goes_

About 1/4 of the campers had fallen asleep. That included Meg; or at least it seemed that way. Meg was laying down on Annabeth's lap, her fluttering eyelids hid the silver eyes that were focused on the pair of intertwined hands that were right next to her. Apparently, Silena noticed too, because she nudged shoulders with Annabeth and winked at Meg. The song had slowed down considerably now, and so it really was like a lullaby.

_So when baby Zeus grew up_

_Metis gave Kronos a cup_

_And promised that the liquid inside_

_Would save his little paranoid hide_

_The drink actually made him vomit_

_And so now we sing this song-it_

_And up they go, up they go, u-u-u-u-up they go_

_Up the now-grown up gods did go_

_And up they go, up they go, u-u-u-u-up they go_

_Which shows that all along the oracle did know_

_Up they go_

As the couple said goodbye, all eyes from both the Athena and Aphrodite cabins were on them. Nothing exciting happened. Nothing that they saw. No one but Meg and Silena saw the couple's intertwined hands part as they left to their cabins and got ready for bed. At which time, Meg let Annabeth dwell in her happiness before asking; "Can you tell me the Janus story now?"

"Well," Annabeth started as the entire Athena cabin listened, although they were pretending to be reading Einstein's biography, the Odyssey, the Gates of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix etc. "We had barely entered the Labyrinth, and we had just passed a dead milkman, when we entered this Roman tile room. There was this guy with two heads there. My first thought was _Hekatonkheires,_ but then he started asking me to make a choice. My brain racked through the list of gods that this could be. Then I remembered a reading I'd done about choices when I was trying to teach myself Latin. He had to be _Janus_. I got really confused, because Janus was a Roman god. Then _Her High and Mighty Highness Hera_ just _had_ to stick her nose in before I could figure out what a _Roman_ god was doing. Anyone have any ideas?" She turned to the rest of the Athena cabin who had put their books down and were blushing at being caught listening to their sister. Who could blame them? She was one of the only ones who had actually been on a quest, no, scratch that, _four_ quests, although she snuck out of camp for one and was used as bait in the other.

"It could be possible," Al, one of her half brothers, started, "that because the Greek and Roman gods are so similar, that part of them has coincided with the Roman gods, giving them multiple personalities, which could explain their bipolar ways." Thunder rumbled outside. "Don't try to deny it!" He yelled, "You know it's true! Moving on, the only Roman gods like Janus, Terminus and Pomona thought that the _Roman_ scheme of gods was moving along the light of civilization instead of the _Greek_ scheme, and that's why Janus exists."

"That's a valid point," Jaela, another half sibling of Annabeth* replied, "but then wouldn't the gods have had children in their Roman aspects? We haven't gotten any reports of Roman demigods, so that could rule out that idea."

"Not necessarily," Malcolm stated, "the Roman demigods could be hiding in a top secret location that even we can't see, and they probably think _we_ are a myth."

"But," his sister Cadee countered, "how could something be shrouded from us? Wouldn't mortals like, sorry Annabeth, Rachel have seen it already? And even if it _did_ exist, where would it be?"

A boy a little older than Meg named Aiden, who hadn't been claimed, but was just staying in the Athena cabin to be close to his caregiver, now stood up; no one had paid him much attention before, because it seemed he'd fallen asleep reading the Kane Chronicles; the Red Pyramid.* * Now he stood, "I know where it is." He mumbled.

"What?" Meg asked.

"I know where it is." He whispered. All of the older campers, especially Pascal, his older brother who had only come around to believing in Greek gods this past week, even though he'd been going to camp for a year, just made cooing noises at how cute he was. Cadee even went as far as to say _The poor boy's mind has been influenced by that silly Egyptian Mythology* * *and sleep, let's just pretend that his reasoning's valid._

Meg found herself having to remind everyone in the room who was really the youngest (and therefore cutest) person in the room. "What were you saying Aiden?" She asked in her 'cuteness guaranteed' annoyingly cheerful voice.

"I said," He stated more firmly, "I know where it is?"

"Where is it sweetie?" His caregiver, Galiena, asked him.

"It's in a maintenance tunnel in Caldecott Tunnel in California. That's where they're hiding! I swear!"

"Isn't he cute?" Jaela whispered to Pascal as Galiena started tucking him in again.

"How would a ton of Roman Campers fit into a tunnel?" Meg asked, once again, trying to draw the attention to herself.

"There's a secret valley behind the tunnel." He whispered as he fell back asleep. Unbeknownst to everyone, he'd been found by Lupa's wolves before his satyr, she, realizing he was a Greek, but wanting a better influence on her soldiers, had sent him to Camp Jupiter. Aiden was claimed by Apollo, but the Greeks didn't know that. He went missing from it a year ago and was declared dead by the Romans. So now, he was getting very annoyed that no one believed him.

As Meg walked by his bed later that night, when the Greek/Roman conversation had ended, she stuck a sticky note onto the page he'd left off on that said _I believe you, -Meg._

As the fireworks got closer, Meg was beginning to understand how romance worked, and beginning to seriously reconsider her original plan of joining the Hunters. She had started to become best friends with Aiden, and was meanwhile watching Percy and Annabeth get together.

It turns out, that after the Greek vs. Roman conversation the night before, Annabeth was more than willing to wear the mid-thigh shorts; let's just say that Cadee's comment about Rachel had fueled her ζήλια ( pronounced zí̱lia), or jealousy and her αποφασιστικότητα (pronounced apofasistikóti̱ta), or determination to ask Percy or get him to ask her to the fireworks skyrocketed, or at least as much as it could while she was wearing _mid-freaking-thigh_ shorts.

Meg apparently was right about the shorts looking shorter than they were. Percy wasn't drooling like some of the Hermes campers were doing, but he definitely was paying more attention to Annabeth* * * *. The two of them would swordfight almost every day, which, by now, was attracting onlookers from the Athena, Aphrodite, and Apollo cabin (Aiden had now been claimed… again). Meg was guessing their concentration wasn't improving with all the romantic comments directed towards them, because their scowls deepened every time anyone opened their mouth. Will, Meg found out, had talked to Beckendorf, and it was going to take a _lot_ of convincing to get them to the fireworks.

"What made you believe me?" Aiden asked Meg in their Archery class taught by Will and/or Chiron.

"It just sounded believable." Meg replied. "I mean, would the Romans believe that the Greek camp was located in a strawberry field? No, no they wouldn't; they'd probably think it was silly, just as my half-siblings thought it was last night."

They went back to shooting, and Meg pretended that with every arrow, she got one step closer to the fireworks… and one step closer to pleasing her older sister.* * * * *

Meanwhile, Annabeth and Silena were talking while they took a break from swordplay.

"You still think this is a good idea?" Annabeth asked her, suspiciously eyeing the necklace Silena was holding in her hands.

"Qu'est ce que c'est avec vous les gens?" Silena asked, momentarily talking in French, "When will you Athenians learn to trust? Besides, you won't have to _wear_ the necklace until the fireworks. I'll just convince Charlie to 'spice it up a bit', you know, make it magic."

"Okay then," Her friend replied, "but if _anything goes wrong_ I swear I will πείσουν την Stoll αδελφούς να πάρει όλα καθρέφτες σας, και ότι δεν θα είναι αρκετά!" Silena just laughed good naturedly, and took the necklace back before shoving Annabeth back into the arena to be everyone's entertainment…again.

Guard duty can ruin your whole day.* * * * * *

Take it from Meg; as the youngest she was stuck with it. It wasn't the first time either, and to top it off, it was _boring_. She'd once fell asleep on it, and the flag _still_ hadn't been stolen.

The evening started off simply enough.

It was the end of June. She'd come back from her fashion lesson with Silena and getting Annabeth dressed for _The Asking_ about two minutes before, and she was so excited her heart might've burst… except for this stupid guard duty thing.

After dinner, all the campers were hanging out at the dining pavilion. They were all excited because that evening Capture the Flag was going to be unmitigatedly insubordinate* * * * * * *.

The night before, Hephaestus's cabin had pulled off a huge agitation. They'd captured the flag from Ares (with Percy Jackson's help) which meant that the Ares cabin would be out for blood. Well… they're _always_ out for blood, but this night especially.

On the blue team were Hephaestus's cabin, Apollo (Meg was glad to have a chance to compete with Aiden), Hermes, and Percy-the only juvenile in Poseidon's cabin. The good news was that for once, Athena and Ares- both war god cabins- were against them on the red team, along with Aphrodite, Dionysus, and Demeter. Athena's cabin held the other flag, and Meg's older sister Annabeth was their captain.

Annabeth is _not_ somebody you want as an enemy.

Right before the game, Meg had watched her stroll up to Percy. "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"Will you stop calling me that?"

Meg smirked; Annabeth knew Percy _hated_ that name, mostly because he never had a good comeback. She was a daughter of Athena, which didn't give him a lot of ammunition, because "Owl-head" and "Wise Girl" are kind of lame insults.

"You know you love it." She bumped Percy with her shoulder, which Meg guessed was supposed to be friendly, but she was wearing Greek armor, so it probably hurt a lot. Her grey eyes sparkled under her helmet. Her blonde ponytail curled around one shoulder. Meg noticed Percy staring at her and guessed that Silena was right; Annabeth had done the impossible; she had managed to look cute in combat armor.

"Tell you what." She lowered her voice, but Meg still heard. "We're going to crush you tonight, but if you pick a safe position… like right flank, for instance…I'll make sure you don't get pulverized too much."

"Gee, thanks," he said, "but I'm playing to win."

Annabeth smiled at his completely imbecilic confidence. "See you on the battlefield."

She jogged back to her siblings, Meg carefully sneaking behind her so no one could guess she'd listened in on the conversation. They all laughed and gave her high fives for getting the ball rolling for asking him to the fireworks later tonight.

Beckendorf walked up to Percy with his helmet under his arm. "She likes you, man." He said as Meg and Silena had instructed him to do.

"Sure," Meg heard him mutter. "She likes me for target practice." Meg had to stifle her giggles by pulling her helmet down over her mouth.

"Nah, they always do that. A girl starts trying to kill you, you know she's into you." Was Beckendorf's reply that made Meg giggle even harder, earning her some weird looks from the Aphrodite cabin.

"Makes a lot of sense."

Beckendorf shrugged. "I know about these things. You ought to ask her to the fireworks." Percy made a face like he thought Beckendorf was joking. Beckendorf was lead counselor for Hephaestus. He was this bulky guy with a permanent scowl, muscles like Heracles, and hands that were calloused from working in the forges. He'd just turned eighteen and was on his way to NYU in the fall. Since he was older, people usually listened to him about things, but the idea of asking Annabeth to the Fourth of July fireworks down at the beach-the absolute most capacious dating event of the summer- seemed to make Percy's stomach feel weak.

Then Silena passed by. Beckendorf had had a not-so-secret (by that, Meg meant that everyone, including Silena, knew about it) crush on her for three years. She had long black hair and big brown eyes, and when she walked, the guys tended to watch. She crooned, "Good luck, Charlie." (Nobody _ever_ called Beckendorf by his first name.) She flashed him a brilliant smile and went off to join Meg and Annabeth on the red team.

"Uh…" Beckendorf swallowed like he'd forgotten how to breathe, and Meg actually had to turn away, missing some of the conversation, to control her giggles.

Naturally, Meg got stuck with the easiest and most uninteresting job.

While the Aphrodite cabin played most of the defense with their lipstick smiles and coy charms, the Ares cabin would charge up the middle of the woods to distract the enemy. Meanwhile, the Athena cabin would scout the left flank, locate the flag, distract the defenders, and get the flag back to their side, while Annabeth and Silena locate Percy and Beckendorf, capture the team's most valuable players (and ask them to the fireworks while at it), and come back to the creek to be reinforcements for getting the flag across.

Why the left flank?

"Because I told Percy to go right," Annabeth told Silena, "which means he _would_ go left."

Silena nodded. "Let's suit up."

They'd been working on a secret plan for the two of them (so of course Meg knew about it)-little bracelets that would track each other's and the guys' positions. If they were inside camp, they could locate them. It had some flaws, but it worked pretty well, at least during test runs it had.

They crossed the creek that served as a boundary between the teams, and soon skirted out of Meg's sight. She groaned to herself, and quickly walked over to one of the Aphrodite girls who were about to leave. Her name was something like Luna, or Lacy, well, it started with an L.

"Can you take over my guard duty position for me?" Meg asked, trying the '_I'm only a sweet and innocent girl'_ approach first.

"Sorry sweetie." The girl replied, "You were assigned your position and I was assigned mine."

"But it's for true love!" Meg whined, "Two kinds of it!" That seemed to melt the girl's heart.

"Okay," She replied, "But only just this once."

"Thank you!" Meg called back as she ran across the boundary line; her brown armor camouflaged her within the trees. She heard fighting in the distance- swords clashing against shields. She glimpsed a flash of light from some magical weapon, but saw no one.

"Where are they?" She guessed. But she felt uneasy. Annabeth and Silena knew not to get too close to their flag; that was the rest of the Athena cabin's job. Meg went back across the river; home territory. Then she came to the edge of a clearing and a mountain of dirt.

"The Ant Hill." Meg whispered to herself in shock. She'd never seen the Ant Hill before, but she'd heard stories from the older campers. The mound rose to almost the treetops-four stories at least. Its sides were riddles with tunnels, and crawling in and out were thousands of _Myrmekes_, the Ancient Greek word for 'ants'. They were more than that though. The _Myremekes_ were the size of German shepherds. Their armored shells glistened crimson. Their eyes were like black voids trying to suck out her soul, and their razor-sharp mandibles whirred like chainsaws. Some carried tree branches. Some carried chunks of raw meat that she _really_ didn't want to know about. Most carried bits of metal-old armor, swords, food platters that had probably come from the pavilion. One ant was dragging the glossy black hood of a sports car. Then they all dropped their treasures, and went for a barely visible figure that was sprinting along the side of the clearing. _Beckendorf_. Meg wanted to scream out, but then she noticed Silena appear beside her. Silena gave her a quizzical look (which looked very unnatural on a daughter of Aphrodite), but didn't tell her to go back to guard duty; she was safe.

"Surprise," Annabeth said to the person on her left, _Percy_ Meg noted that she must've been invisible, because Percy seemed to be held back by an imperceptible force.

"Nice work," Silena told Annabeth, who then confiscated Percy's sword and took off her cap, smiling smugly.

"Boys are easy to follow. They make more noise than a lovesick Minotaur."

Percy blushed, probably wondering how long the girls had been eavesdropping.

"You're our prisoner," Annabeth announced. "Let's get Beckendorf and-"

"Beckendorf!" For a split second, Percy seemed to have forgotten him, but he was still forging ahead-straight toward a dragon's head. He was already forty feet away. He hadn't noticed the girls, or the fact that Percy wasn't behind him.

"Come on!" Percy told Annabeth.

She pulled him back. "Where do you think you're going, prisoner?"

"Look!"

Annabeth peered into the clearing and for the first time seemed to realize where they were. "Oh, Zeus…"

Beckendorf leaped into the open and struck one of the ants. His sword clanged off its carapace. The ant turned, snapping its pincers. Before anyone could even call out, the ant bit Beckendorf's leg and sprayed goo in his face, and Beckendorf screamed. He dropped his sword and slapped wildly at his own eyes.

Percy surged forward, but Annabeth pulled him back. "_No_."

"Charlie!" Silena yelled.

"Don't!" Annabeth hissed. "It's already too late!"

"What are you talking about?" Percy demanded. "We have to-"

Then Percy seemed to notice the other ants swarming toward Beckendorf-ten, twenty. They grabbed him by the armor and dragged him toward the hill so fast he was swept into the tunnel and gone.

"No!" Silena pushed Annabeth. "You _let_ them take Charlie!"

"There's no time to argue," Annabeth said. "Come on!"

Meg thought she was going to lead them on a charge to save Beckendof, but instead she raced to the dragon's head, which the ants had momentarily forgotten. She grabbed it by the wires and started dragging it toward the woods.

"What are you _doing_?" Percy demanded. "Beckendorf-"

"Help me," Annabeth grunted. "Quick, before they get back."

"Oh, my gods!" Silena said. "You're more worried about this hunk of metal than Charlie?"

Annabeth spun around and shook her by the shoulders. "Listen, Silena! Those are _Myrmekes_. They're like fire ants, only a hundred times worse. They bite poison. They spray acid. They communicate with the other ants and swarm anything that threatens them. If we'd rushed in there to help Beckendorf, we would have been dragged inside, too. We're going to need help-_a lot_ of help-to get him back. Now, grab some wires and _pull_!"

Meg didn't know what Annabeth was up to, but she knew that Annabeth always had a good reason for doing something. The four of them, although Percy seemed to be the only one who didn't notice Meg, tugged the metal dragon's head into the woods. Annabeth didn't let them stop until they were fifty yards from the clearing. Then they collapsed, sweating and breathing hard.

Silena started to cry. "He's probably dead already."

"No," Annabeth said. "They won't kill him right away. We've got about half an hour."

"How do you know that?" Percy asked.

"I've read about the _Myrmekes_. They paralyze their prey so they can soften them up before-"

Silena sobbed. "We have to save him!"

"Call the other campers," Percy said, "or Chiron. Chiron will know what to do."

Annabeth shook her head. "They're scattered all over the woods. By the time we got everyone back here, it would be too late. Besides, the entire camp wouldn't be strong enough to invade the Ant Hill."

"Then what?"

Annabeth pointed at the dragon's head.

"It's an automaton," she said.

Percy grimaced, probably remembering bad times with those. "So what?" he said. "It's just a head. It's broken."

"Percy, this isn't just _any_ automaton," Annabeth said. "It's the bronze dragon. Haven't you heard the stores?"

Percy stared at her blankly. Meg sighed, really, it was too much to ask for _Percy_ to know that story, Hades, _she_ didn't even know that story.

Silena's eyes widened. "You mean the old guardian? But that's just a legend!"

"Whoa," Percy said. "What old guardian?'

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Percy, in the days before Thalia's tree-back before the camp had magical boundaries to keep out monsters-the counselors tried all sorts of different ways to protect themselves. The most famous was the bronze dragon. The Hephaestus cabin made it with the blessing of their father. Supposedly it was so fierce and powerful that it kept the camp safe for over a decade. And then…about fifteen years ago, it disappeared into the woods."

"And you think this is its head?"

"It has to be! The Myrmekes probably dug it up while they were looking for precious metal. They couldn't move the whole thing, so they chewed off the head. The body can't be far away."

"But they chewed it apart. It's useless."

"Not necessarily." Annabeth's eyes narrowed, and Meg could tell her brain was working overtime. "We could reassemble it. If we could activate it-"

"It could help us rescue Charlie!" Silena said.

"Hold up." Percy said. "That's a lot of ifs. _If_ we find it, _if_ we can reactivate it in time, _if_ it will help us. You said this thing disappeared fifteen years ago?"

Annabeth nodded. "Some say its motor wore out so it went into the woods to deactivate itself. Or its programming went haywire. No one knows."

"You want to reassemble a haywire metal dragon?"

"We have to try!" Annabeth said. "It's Beckendorf's only hope! Besides, this could be a sign from Hephaestus. The dragon should want to help one of Hephaestus's kids. Beckendorf would want us to try."

Percy didn't seem to like the idea, but no one had any better suggestions, and they were running out of time. Silena looked like she was going to have a seizure if they didn't do something soon. "All right," Percy said. "Let's go find a headless dragon."

They searched _forever_ or maybe it just felt that way to Meg. The whole time she was imagining Beckendorf in the Ant Hill, terrified and paralyzed, while a bunch of armored critters scurried around him, waiting for him to be marinated.

It wasn't hard to follow the ants' trail. They'd dragged the dragon's head through the forest, making a deep rut in the mud, and the team dragged the head right back the way the ants had come.

They had gone 25.89% of a mile-and Meg was getting worried about their time- when Annabeth said, "_Di immortals."_

They'd come to the rim of a crater-like someone had blasted a house-sized hole in the forest floor. The sides were slippery and dotted with tree roots. Ant tracks led to the bottom, where a large metal mound glinted through the dirt. Wires stuck up from a bronze stump on one end."

"The dragon's neck," Percy said. "You think the ants made this crater?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Looks more like a meteor blast…"

"Hephaestus," Silena said. "The god must've unearthed this. Hephaestus _wanted_ us to find the dragon. He wanted Charlie to…" She was emotionally overcome and couldn't say any more.

"Come on," Percy said. "Let's reconnect this bad boy."

Getting the dragon's head to the bottom was easy. It tumbled right down the slope and hit the neck with a loud metallic _BONK!_ Reconnecting it was much more difficult.

They had no tools and no experience.

Annabeth fiddled with the wires and cursed in ancient Greek. "We need Beckendorf. He could do this in seconds."

"Isn't your mom the goddess of inventors?" Percy asked.

Annabeth glared at him. "Yes, but this is different. I'm good with _ideas_. Not mechanics." Meg glared at Percy, and huffed, crossing her arms, since he _still_ hadn't even seen she was there. Meg _always_ liked to be seen and doted on.

"If I was going to pick one person in the world to reattach my head," Percy said, "I'd pick you." It sounded pretty stupid, but it made Meg momentarily forget her exasperation at Percy, and smile.

"Awww…" Silena sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Percy that is _so_ sweet!"

Annabeth blushed. "Shut up, Silena. Hand me your dagger."

Percy glanced nervously at the dagger as if he was expecting Annabeth to gut him or something for saying what he said; instead she used it as a screwdriver to open a panel in the dragon's neck. "Here goes nothing," she said.

And she started to splice together two celestial bronze wires.

It took a long time. _Too long._

Meg figured Capture the Flag had to be over by now. She wondered how soon the other campers would realize the older demigods were gone, and how long it would take them to realize she was gone too. If Annabeth's calculations were correct (which they always were), Beckendorf probably had five or ten minutes left before the ants got him.* * * * * * * *

Finally Annabeth stood up and exhaled. Her hands were scraped and muddy. Her fingernails were wrecked. She had a brown streak across her forehead where the dragon had decided to spit grease at her, yet still, Meg was sure Percy still thought she looked great.

"All right," she said. "It's done, I think…"

"You _think_?" Silena asked.

"It has to be done," Percy said. "We're out of time. How do you, uh, start it? Is there an ignition switch or something?"

Annabeth pointed to its ruby eyes. "Those turn clockwise. I'm guessing we rotate them."

"If somebody twisted my eyeballs, I'd wake up," Percy agreed. "What if it goes crazy on us?"

"Then…we're dead," Annabeth said.

"Great," Percy said. "I'm psyched."

Together they turned the ruby eyes of the dragon. Immediately, they began to glow. Annabeth and Percy backed up so fast they fell over each other. The dragon's mouth opened, as if it were testing its jaw. The head turned and looked at them. Steam poured from its ears, and it tried to rise.

When it found it couldn't move, the dragon seemed confused. It cocked its head and regarded the dirt. Finally, it realized it was buried. The neck strained once, twice… and the center of the crater erupted.

The dragon pulled itself awkwardly out of the ground, shaking clumps of mud from its body the way a dog might, splattering them from head to toe. The automation was so awesome, none of them could speak. I mean sure, it needed a trip through the car wash, and there were a few wires sticking out here and there, but the dragon's body was amazing-like a high-tech tank with legs. Its sides were plated with bronze and gold scales, encrusted with gemstones. Its legs were the size of tree trunks, and its feet had steel talons. It had no wings-most Greek dragons don't-but its tail was at least the size of a school bus. The neck creaked and popped as it turned its head to the sky and blew a column of triumphant fire.

"Well…" Percy said in a small voice. "It still works." _Way to state the obvious,_ Meg thought, although she didn't say it out loud and doubted Percy would even notice her if she did.

Unfortunately, the dragon heard Percy, making Meg glad she hadn't spoken. Those ruby eyes zeroed in on him, and it stuck its snout two inches from his face. Instinctively, Percy reached into his pocket for his sword.

"Dragon, stop!" Silena yelled. Meg was flabbergasted her voice still worked. She spoke with such command that the automaton turned its attention to her.

Silena swallowed nervously. "We've woken you to defend the camp. You remember? That is your job!"

The dragon tilted its head as if it were thinking. Meg knew Silena had about a fifty-fifty chance of getting blasted with fire. Meg was considering hiding behind a tree root, when Silena said, 'Charles Beckendorf, a son of Hephaestus, is in trouble. The _Myrmekes_ have taken him. He needs your help."

At the word _Hephaestus_, the dragon's neck straightened. A shiver rippled through its metal body, throwing a new shower of mud all over the team.

The dragon looked around, as if trying to find an enemy.

"We have to show it," Annabeth said. "Come on, dragon! This way to the son of Hephaestus! Follow us!"

Just like that, she drew her sword, and the four of them climbed out of the pit.

"For Hephaestus!" Annabeth yelled, which was a nice touch. They charged through the woods. When Meg looked behind her, she saw that the bronze dragon was right on their tail, its red eyes glowing and steam coming out of its nostrils.

It was a good incentive to keep running fast as they headed for the Ant Hill.

When they got to the clearing, the dragon seemed to catch Beckendorf's scent. It barreled ahead of them, and the team had to jump out if its way to avoid being flattened. It crashed through the trees, joints creaking, feet pounding craters into the ground.

It charged straight for the Ant Hill. At first, the _Myrmekes_ didn't know what was happening. The dragon stepped on a few of them, smashing them to bug juice. Then their telepathic network seemed to light up, like: _Big dragon. Bad!_

All the ants in the clearing turned simultaneously and swarmed the dragon. More ants poured out of the hill-hundreds of them. The dragon blew fire and sent a whole column of them into a panicked retreat. Who knew ants were flammable? But more kept coming.

"Inside, now!" Annabeth told the group. "While they're focused on the dragon!"

Silena lead the charge; it was the first time Meg had ever followed a child of Aphrodite into battle. They ran past the ants, but they ignored the five of them. For some reason they seemed to consider the dragon a bigger threat. Go figure.

The group plunged into the nearest tunnel, and almost gagged from the stench. Nothing stinks worse than a giant ant lair. Meg could tell they let their food decompose before eating it. Somebody seriously needed to teach them about refrigerators.

The journey inside was a blur of dark tunnels and moldy rooms carpeted with old ant shells and pools of goo. Ants surged past on their way to battle, but the group just stepped aside and let them pass. The faint glow of Percy's sword gave them light as they made their way deeper into the nest.

"Look!" Annabeth said.

Meg glanced into a side room, and her heart skipped a beat. Hanging from the ceiling were humongous, glutinous sacks-ant larvae- but that's not what got her attention. The cave floor was heaped with gold coins, gems, and other treasures-helmets, swords, musical instruments and jewelry. They glowed the way magic items do.

"That's just one room," Annabeth said. "There are probably hundreds of nurseries down here, decorated with treasure."

"It's not important," Silena insisted. "We have to find Charlie!"

Another first: a child of Aphrodite uninterested in jewelry.

They forged on. After twenty more feet, they entered a cavern that smelled so bad Meg's nose shut down completely. The remains of old meals were piled as high as sand dunes-bones, chunks of rancid meat, even old camp meals. The ants seemed to have raided the camp's compost heap and stole their leftovers. At the base of one of the heaps, struggling to pull himself upright, was Beckendorf. He looked terrible, partly because his camouflage armor was now the color of garbage.

"Charlie!" Silena ran to him and tried to help him up.

"Thank the gods," he said. "My-my legs are paralyzed!"

"It'll wear off," Annabeth said. "But we have to get you out of here. Percy, take his other side."

Silena and Percy hoisted Beckendorf up, and the five of them started back through the tunnels. Meg could hear distant sounds of battle-metal creaking, fire roaring, hundreds of ants snapping and spitting.

"What's going on out there?" Beckendorf asked. His body tensed. "The dragon! You didn't-reactivate it?"

"Afraid so," Percy said. "Seemed like the only way."

"But you can't just turn on an automaton! You have to calibrate the motor, run a diagnostic…There's no telling what it'll do! We've got to get out there!"

As it turned out, they didn't need to go anywhere, because the dragon came to them. They were trying to remember which tunnel the exit was, when the entire hill exploded, showering them in dirt. Suddenly, they were staring at open sky. The dragon was right above them, thrashing back and forth, smashing the Ant Hill to bits as it tried to shake off the _Myrmekes_ crawling all over its body.

"Come on!" Percy yelled. They dug themselves out of the dirt and stumbled down the side of the hill, dragging Beckendorf with them.

Their friend the dragon was in trouble. The _Myrmekes_ were biting at the joints of its armor, spitting acid all over it. The dragon stomped and snapped and blew flames, but it couldn't last much longer. Steam was rising from its bronze skin.

Even worse, a few of the ants turned to the group. Meg hypothesized they didn't like them stealing their dinner. Percy slashed at one and lopped off its head. Annabeth stabbed another right between the feelers. As the celestial bronze blade pierced its shell, the whole ant disintegrated.

"I-I think I can walk now," Beckendorf said, and immediately fell on his face when Percy and Silena let go of him.

"Charlie!" Silena helped him up and pulled him along while Annabeth, Meg, and Percy cleared a path through the ants. Somehow they managed to reach the edge of the clearing without getting bitten or splashed, though one of Percy's sneakers was smoking from acid.

Back in the clearing, the dragon stumbled. A great cloud of acid mist was roiling off its hide.

"We can't let it die!" Silena said

"It's too dangerous," Beckendorf said sadly. "It's wiring-"

"Charlie," Silena pleaded, "it saved your life! Please, for me."

Beckendorf hesitated. His face was still bright red from the spit, and he looked as if he were going to faint any minute, but he struggled to his feet. "Get ready to run," he told the rest of the group. Then he gazed across the clearing and shouted, "DRAGON! Emergency defense, beta- ACTIVATE!"

The dragon turned toward the sound of his voice. It stopped struggling against the ants, and its eyes glowed. The air smelled of ozone, like before a thunderstorm.

_ZZZZZAAAAAPPP!_

Arcs of blue electricity shot from the dragon's skin, rippling up and down its body and connecting with the ants. Some of the ants exploded. Others smoked and blackened, their legs twitching. The ones that were still alive were in full retreat, scuttling back toward their ruined hill as fingers of electricity zapped them in the back to prod them along.

The dragon bellowed in triumph, then it turned its glowing eyes toward the five of them.

"Now," Beckendorf said, "we run."

This time they did not yell, "For Hephaestus!" They yelled, "Heeeeelp!"

The dragon pounded after them, spewing fire and zapping lightning bolts over their heads like it was having a great time.

"How do you stop it?" Annabeth yelled.

Beckendorf, whose legs were now working fine (nothing like being chased by a huge monster to get your body back in order) shook his head and gasped for breath. "You shouldn't have turned it on! It's unstable! After a few years, automatons go wild!"

"Good to know," Percy yelled. "But how do you turn it off?"

"Beckendorf looked around wildly. "There!"

Up ahead was an out cropping of rock, almost as tall as the trees. The woods were full of weird rock formations, but Meg had never seen this one before. It was shaped like a giant skateboard ramp, slanted on one side, with a sheer drop-off on the other.

"You guys, run around to the base of the cliff," Beckendorf said. "Distract the dragon. Keep it occupied!"

"What are you going to do?" Silena said.

"You'll see. Go!"

The dragon spewed black smoke out if its nostrils. It thundered toward Percy, shaking the ground.

"Come on!" Annabeth grabbed his hand. They ran for the back side of the cliff. The dragon followed, with Silena and Meg cowering behind it.

"We have to hold it here," Annabeth said. The four of them readied their swords.

The dragon reached them and lurched to a stop. It tilted its head like it couldn't believe they'd be so foolish as to fight. Now that it had caught them, there were so many different ways it could kill them it probably couldn't decide.

They scattered as its first blast of fire turned the ground where they'd been standing into a smoking pit of ashes.

Then Meg saw Beckendorf above them-at the top of the cliff- and she understood what he was trying to do. He needed a clear shot. Someone had to keep the dragon's attention.

"Yaaaah!" Percy charged. He brought Riptide down on the dragon's foot and sliced off a talon.

Its head creaked as it looked down at him. It seemed more confused than angry, like, _Why did you cut off my toe?_

Then it opened its mouth, baring a hundred razor sharp teeth.

"Percy!" Annabeth warned.

And just before the dragon struck, Beckendorf launched himself off the rocks and landed on the dragon's neck.

The dragon reared back and shot flames, trying to shake Beckendorf, but he held on like a cowboy as the monster bucked around. Meg watched in fascination as he ripped open a panel at the base of the dragon's head and yanked a wire.

Instantly, the dragon froze. Its eyes went dim. Suddenly it was only the statue of a dragon, bearing its teeth at the sky.

Beckendorf slid down the dragon's neck. He collapsed at its tail, exhausted and breathing heavily.

"Charlie!" Silena ran up to him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "You did it!"

Annabeth came up to Percy and squeezed his shoulder. "Hey Seaweed Brain, you okay?"

"Fine…I guess." Percy's eyes had a glazed look in them, as if he was thinking.

"You did great." Annabeth smiled at him, and Percy blinked stupidly.

"You, too," He said shakily. "So…what do we do with the automaton?"

Beckendorf wiped his forehead. Silena was still fussing over his cuts and bruises, and Beckendorf looked pretty distracted by the attention.

"We-uh-I don't know," he said. "Maybe we can fix it, get it to guard the camp, but that could take months."

"Worth trying," Percy said. Meg imagined having that bronze dragon in their fight against the Titan lord Kronos. His monsters would think twice about attacking camp if they had to face _that _thing. On the other hand, if the dragon decided to go insane again and attack the campers-that would be terrible.

"Did you see all the treasure in the Ant Hill?" Beckendorf asked. "The magic weapons? The armor? That stuff could really help us."

"And the bracelets," Silena said. "And the necklaces."

Percy shuddered. "I think that's an adventure for later. It would take an army of demigods even to get close to that treasure."

"Maybe," Beckendorf said. "But what a treasure…"

Silena studied the frozen dragon. "Charlie, that was the bravest thing I ever saw-you jumping on that dragon."

Beckendorf swallowed. "Um… yeah. So…will you go to the fireworks with me?"

Silena's face lit up. "Of course, you big dummy! I thought you'd never ask!"

Beckendorf suddenly looked a whole lot better. "Well let's get back, then! I bet Capture the Flag is over."

Percy had to go barefoot, because the acid had eaten completely through his shoe. When he kicked it off he realized the goo had soaked into his sock and turned his foot red and raw. He leaned against Annabeth (who winked at Meg), and she helped him limp through the woods.

Beckendorf and Silena walked ahead of them, holding hands, and they gave them some space.

Watching both couples, Meg felt pretty proud of herself. She silently thanked Beckendorf for being so brave, and she didn't mean for facing the dragon. After three years, he'd finally gotten the courage to ask Silena Beauregard out.

"You know," Annabeth said as the pair struggled along, "it wasn't the bravest thing _I've_ ever seen."

Percy blinked. "Um…what do you mean?"

Annabeth gripped his wrist as they stumbled through a shallow creek. "You stood up to the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump-now _that_ was brave."

"Or pretty stupid."

"Percy, you're a brave guy," she said. "Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?"

They locked eyes. Their faces were, like, two inches apart. Meg had to fight every urge not to scream and jump and squeal, although she doubted Percy would notice she was with them even then.

"So…" Percy said. "I guess Silena and Charlie are going to the fireworks together."

"I guess so," Annabeth agreed.

"Yeah," Percy said. "Um, about that-"

Meg was silently urging them on with all her thoughts, but just then, Cadee, Jaela and Al from the Athena cabin burst out of the bushes with their swords drawn. When they saw them, they broke into grins.

"Annabeth!" Jaela said. "Good job! Let's get these two to jail."

Percy stared at her. "The game's not over?"

Jaela laughed. "Not yet…but soon. Now that we've captured _you_."

"Dude, come on," Beckendorf protested. "We got sidetracked. There was a dragon, and the whole Ant Hill was attacking us."

"Uh-huh," said Al, clearly unimpressed. "Annabeth, great job distracting them. Worked out perfectly. You want us to take it from here?"

Annabeth pulled away from Percy. Meg was sure she was going to give him a free walk back to the border, but she drew her dagger and pointed it at him with a smile.

"Nah," she said. "Silena and I can get this. Come on prisoners. Move it."

Percy stared at her, stunned. "You _planned _this? You planned the whole thing just to keep us out of the game?" Even Meg doubted that, but Percy just overestimated her.

"Percy, seriously, how could I have planned it? The dragon, the ants-you think I could've figured all that out ahead of time?"

Then she exchanged glances with Silena, and Meg could tell they were trying not to laugh.

"You-you little-" Percy started to say, but he apparently couldn't think of a name strong enough to call her.

Percy protested all the way to jail, and so did Beckendorf. It was really funny for them to be treated like prisoners after all they'd been through.

But Annabeth just smiled and put them in jail. As she was heading back to the front line, she turned and winked. "See you at the fireworks?"

She didn't even wait for his answer before darting off into the woods. Meg got her post back from an ecstatic Lacy who'd apparently just heart that part.

Percy looked at Beckendorf. "Did she just…ask me out?"

He shrugged. "Who knows with girls? Give me a haywire dragon, any day."

So they sat and waited while the girls won the game.

"Oh hey Meg." Percy said right before Annabeth ran over with the flag. "Didn't see you there."

"_Oh sure_" she responded sarcastically, "_now_ you see me." Meg huffed and turned away from the bewildered boys.

"What did I do?" Percy asked Beckendorf.

"As I said before," he responded, "who knows?"

This next part really should be called; Annabeth Almost Becomes A Grey Eyed Barbie Doll, because that really sums up what happened. Every girl in the Aphrodite and Athena cabin swarmed around Annabeth as they were digging through the "charity closet" to try and find the fireworks outfit that Drew had "accidently" knocked into the bigger basket of clothes.

"Okay, spread out people!" Silena ordered, "Annabeth Chase can't go to the fireworks with _Percy Jackson_ without clothes." The responses to that were many high pitched ear-piercing squeals that would've left any boy running for the exit, but in a room full of girls, it just made more squeals happen.

"Well actually…" An Aphrodite girl named Angelique started to say, but was cut off by Silena.

"Think blue. Think Fourth of July. Think date. And most importantly, think. Now look, look, look!"

The legion* * * * * * * * * of Aphrodite girls in lip gloss and Prada heels quickly followed the orders of their leader, and dove into the "charity closet", clothes flying everywhere. Meanwhile, Silena left Angelique in charge as she dragged all the girls from the Athena cabin into the bathroom of the Aphrodite cabin (that surprisingly held all of them.)

"Now Annabeth," Silena warned, tapping her on the nose like she would often do to Meg, which made Meg sulk because that was _her_ thing, "you be grateful that I left _your_ cabin in charge of makeup and hair, or else you would walk out of here as stiff and plasticized as a grey-eyed Barbie doll. Everyone else, no haircuts, extensions, fake eyelashes, spray tans, hair dye, or hairspray. With that in mind, take out your graph paper and sketch the hair and makeup; go, go, go!"

Meg scribbled as fast as she could; adding every little detail possible that Silena had reminded her of. And the checklist the two had composed three days ago:

_Blue:_ **Check**

_Coordinating Colors:_** Check**

_Eyeshadow:_ **Check**

_Lipstick/Lip-gloss:_** Check**

_Mascara:_ **Check**

_Eyeliner:_** Check**

_Curling Iron/Straightener:_ **Check**

_Blush:_** Check**

_Part:_** Check**

Unfortunately, Galiena's design was deemed of better quality than Meg's. It was Annabeth's hair with a side part and down with a small French braid on either side that connected at the back and was tied off into ringlets. There was grey and blue eyeshadow to bring out her eyes, a little lip-gloss, brown mascara, a smidge of blush, lemon perfume, and to top it off, there were silver owl earrings to coordinate with the grey eyeshadow.

Meg was moody for a moment, but then Silena called her up to the chair that Annabeth was tied to (and her knife removed in case she tried to escape), and asked her to be her little helper.

"Blush brush." Silena ordered, Meg handed it to her with the blush, and Silena quickly did a sweep of Annabeth's cheekbones with it before handing it back to Meg. This was repeated several times;

"Eyeliner."

"Eyeshadow."

"Mascara."

"Lip-gloss."

"Brush."

"Hair ties."

"Curling iron."

"Earrings."

"Perfume."

Finally, Silena pulled a silver necklace out of her skinny jeans' pocket. It was the one Meg had seen her with earlier that week. Silena polished it with some of the perfume before carefully hanging it around Annabeth's neck, being cautious not to ruin the hairstyle she had just created.

"Now," Silena started, "if the conversation ever gets awkward, press the little heart in the middle of the owl charm. It will turn your earrings into little walkie-talkies so that you can ask me anything."

"Mnnnn, mnnn, mnnn, mnn." Was her reply.

"Yes," Silena sighed, "I _suppose _we must take the gag out before you go to the fireworks." She let Meg remove the gag. "_But_, if you hadn't come in here kicking and screaming, we wouldn't have had to tie you up, would we?"

Annabeth grumbled something about _how did I let myself get talked into this_, and asked for her knife back so she could cut the ropes that secured her to the chair. This, Meg also gave to her. Surprisingly, Annabeth held the knife between her teeth as she freed her hands, and then used them to free the rest of her.

Jaela and Cadee gripped Annabeth's hands, Annabeth looked like she wanted to bite them, but allowed herself to be "escorted" to the main room of the cabin where the Aphrodite girls were waiting.

"Okie dokie!" Angelique squealed as the Athenians came in, "We have picked out the most adorbs outfit for the little Princess…" At this, Annabeth actually _did_ bite Angelique in the hand as she stroked her chin. "My, my, very feisty, what did Silena _do _to you?"

"Angelique." Silena growled. "I believe _I_ am counselor, so why don't you get to the point?"

"Anyway…" Angelique trailed on, "You are going to like so totally love it!"* * * * * * * * * *

It turned out, Annabeth actually _did_ seem to love it. Every piece of it but one.

"Okay, it took me 24 hours to be convinced on the mid-thigh shorts!" She shouted, "There is no way in Hades that I am going to wear bootie shorts!"

"Oh yes there is…" A snide voice came from the doorway. Meg turned to see Drew standing there. "In fact, you would _love_ to wear these shorts, you are _very_ excited to wear them, and you are _going_ to wear them."

"I am going to… wait a minute!" Annabeth was suddenly suspicious. "I will wear them, on one condition." She shoved her knife under Drew's chin, knocking away Cadee and Jaela in the process. "You are _never_ going to charmspeak me again. Because if you do," a drop of blood fell from the chin, unluckily not part of a vein, "Let's just say I would make a _terrible_ enemy. I would stop at nothing to kill you, and I wouldn't make stupid mistakes. Don't make one yourself."

"Fine…" Drew whined. "I _promise_."

"Swear on the Styx." Drew's face paled. "Oh yes, I went there."

"I swear on the _precious_ River Styx that _if_ Annabeth wears the shorts I will not charmspeak her again, and if I do, she will carry out the revenge she has planned." Thunder rumbled outside, and Drew stormed out of the cabin, muttering something about leadership and oaths, before slamming the door.

"I guess that means you have to." Meg whimpered.

"I guess so." Annabeth sighed before heading to the bathroom to change.

When she came out, it was clear that, had the Aphrodite children been doing her makeup too, she would've been a grey eyed Barbie. Annabeth was wearing a flowing blue-green tank-top blouse that shined like the sea. Her shorts definitely _were_ short, but they showed off her nice, tanned, athletic legs that were glinting like olive oil had been rubbed on them* * * * * * * * * * *. The silvery high-heeled sandals seemed to glow like the Artemis cabin, and showed off her jewelry and her eyeshadow, making her grey eyes pop. Silena stood up and admired the two cabins' handiwork before taking a hot pink sundress from her camp trunk and hurrying into the bathroom to do her own hair and makeup. The other girls, quickly realizing they only had twenty minutes to get ready themselves either ran to their cabin (the Athenians), or started changing right in the cabin.

As for Meg, she ran to her cabin and, grabbing the outfit Silena had picked out for _her_ "date"* * * * * * * * * * * * with Aiden. Well, it wasn't really a date, but he'd invited her to sit with him and Will at the fireworks since Annabeth couldn't be watching her.

Meg wore a white sundress that had a little ruffle at the bottom, reinforcing the image of her being a little angel (that was only an image, no one really believed it). And so, she went down to watch the fireworks display on the beach.

**Note: This last part of the story is written as was told to Piper Mclean by Annabeth Chase a year, nine months, and two days from the event. Megara has nothing to do with this story; this is just to inform you what _did_ happen to Annabeth Chase and Perseus Jackson on the night of the Fourth of July fireworks in the year of the bead of the Labyrinth. Thank you.**

# # # # # # # # # #

Do you _really_ want to know what happened that year at the fireworks? Well fine, I'll tell you, but only because you've heard all the information about what happened before then from a little tattle-tale traitor ten year old who just happens to be my half-sister.

I was more than just a little nervous. I would've liked to have a strategy, but I had no idea whatsoever how this was going to play out. I didn't know what I was thinking; first assenting to Megara and Silena's idea, and then actually having it play out. Silena had shoved me out of her cabin after tying me to a chair and putting a gag in my mouth while she did my hair and makeup. If that isn't torture, then I don't know what is. I like to know what is going on, that means I like to know what in Hades someone is doing to my face and whether they are making me look like a grey-eyed Barbie doll.

I cursed Silena under my breath for "letting me out" twenty minutes earlier than the actual start of the fireworks. Luckily, I wasn't alone. There were a couple of Apollo girls out there who shot me glares as I walked to the beach. Either they were mad they lost Capture the Flag, or they were jealous that I got a date and Silena's help on top of it. I really wasn't sure. Aly, one of the girls out there who were playing basketball took one glance at me, flipped her black hair over her shoulder, shot another basket and then ran to her cabin to find something that I guess she thought would look better than mine. We'd always had a small rivalry, not big enough to draw attention, but of enough size that daggers were shot from our eyes whenever we entered the same room.

I stopped at my cabin to get my knife and ambrosia, just in case some monster decided to attack out of the woods. That actually did happen one year when…I'm getting off track, aren't I? Anyway, it felt really cold even though it was summer, so I also grabbed my grey sweater, not caring whether or not Silena thought it matched the outfit she had put me in. In my world, practicality overrules fashion, although for some of Silena's siblings, I cannot say they feel the same way. I walked down to a quiet spot on the fireworks beach. After being at camp since I was seven, I knew where all the right places were for the fireworks, and I had chosen the best. It was on top of a sand dune, it overlooked the water, and was hidden from view of the other places by some tall gardenia bushes; I did _not_ want to have some Aphrodite girls staring at us the entire night. That would've just been awkward.

I set my sweater down on the dune, and walked along the rest of the beach, saying hello to some of the other campers who were starting to trickle in from the rest of camp. Silena and Beckendorf were probably the cutest couple together. She was wearing a short but flowy hot pink sundress and high heeled wedges that put her on the same height as Beckendorf who was wearing some less-than-usual-soot-stain jeans and a black t-shirt. Their outfits didn't match like prom dates would, but the way they looked at each other made everyone else around them feel the happiness they were feeling. Meg (curse that little traitor) was wearing a white sundress and sitting right on the water with Aiden, a guy from Apollo who I _thought_ she _might_ like, and Will Solace who was watching over the two of them. No one was really in anything fancy, so I was glad that the Aphrodite girls hadn't gone too overboard with my outfit. When I got to the edge of the beach where Clarisse, wearing a crimson shirt and jean shorts, and Chris, wearing ripped jeans and a brown plaid shirt, were sitting, I turned around to go find _my_ date. _He'd better not have forgotten_. I thought as I made my way back. _Or all this was for nothing._

Unfortunately and fortunately, he _did_ show up. It was unfortunate because I was sure our parents were going to kill _one_ of us. It was fortunate because, well, _He remembered!_ A tiny voice that I always tried to keep hidden squeaked in my head. _Shut up!_ I told myself and buried that voice behind my logic; I was _not_ going to let it turn me into an Aphrodite child. Percy was just saying hello to Grover and Juniper who had found a nice place at the edge of the woods when he turned and saw me. If it had been one of your mom's fantasies Piper, we would've had a romantic moment. Instead, he said hello, I gripped his hand and pulled him to the sand dune where my sandy sweater was still sitting.

I have to admit, it looked like he _had_ tried. He was wearing a dark blue Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt and brown Bermuda shorts with sandals. His unruly hair looked like he had _tried and failed_ to comb it, got a comb stuck in it, got it out, and gave up, but that just made me smile. _He tried!_ That little voice I thought I had pushed away far enough said again. This time, I closed it off between the doors of my knowledge and locked it with my key of logic; I was _not_ going to listen to that little voice. No, I was not.

Percy laughed when he saw my sweater. "It's not _that_ cold out." He said. I scowled at him and punched him in the arm. Then he shook out the sweater and gave it back to me, but not before he brought out a towel for us to sit on. It was kind of an awkward silence between us then, at least it wasn't made _more_ awkward by people spying on us. There was a reason I had chosen this place.

"Why did you ask me?" Percy asked looking into my eyes.

I then rolled my eyes at his obliviousness. "Because Seaweed Brain, if I didn't ask you first, somebody else would've."

"You sure?"

I laughed and responded; "Boys, so oblivious to everything around them. There's a reason I call you Seaweed Brain you know."

"Would you, by chance, tell me the reason?"

"I just did."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"Positive?"

The argument went on like that until the first firework lit up the sky. It was a white one that exploded into a picture of the American flag, a lightening bolt firework streaked through the image, turning the sky into a video of the Revolutionary War, which changed scenes with every flash.

I'd already seen the display eight times, but Percy just stared at the sky mesmerized. I smiled, because I'd helped design the special ending for this year. Percy turned away from the fireworks in the middle of the Boston Tea Party. "There's something I want to show you." He said. Apparently, even though I hadn't pressed the button on the necklace, Silena still heard what he said, and her squeals filled my ears, although I doubted anyone else heard them.

We walked away from the crowd to the water, where a white hippocampus was waiting. It was one of Rainbow's friends from our adventures in the Sea of Monsters. I stepped on it; completely ignoring what Angelique's protests might be later when she saw how much the saltwater had wrecked the shoes. We skated over the water towards the middle of the sound, close enough to still see the fireworks, but far enough away to feel completely alone.

"What was it you wanted to show me?" I asked.

"This." He said, pulling out a flower from his pocket. I recognized it at once as a Moonbeam flower that is only found on the Moonlace plant, which is only found on Calypso's island… I narrowed my eyes, my suspicions were true. He _had_ been on Calypso's island in those two weeks that he was supposedly "lost."

"You should know why I came back." He told me, I turned away from the fireworks to look behind me at Percy, since he was sitting behind me on the hippocampus.

"You should know that I know where you were." I replied smirking.

"I already told you, I was lost."

"On Calypso's island maybe."

There was an awkward silence between us; the only sounds were the waves crashing on the beach and the fireworks exploding overhead. Percy put the flower in my hair. I could practically feel Silena's squeals, even though she couldn't see what was happening.

"It matches your eyes." He said.

"Since when did you become an Aphrodite child?" Percy laughed. I smiled, the ending of the fireworks was coming soon.

"What would make you think that? I've met Aphrodite, I'm not sure I'd want to be her kid."

"Wait a minute… you never told me about this." I knew I'd caught Percy, now he'd have to tell me.

"Well, when we were going to rescue you and Artemis from Mount Tam, right before Bianca died, Aphrodite and Ares showed up, and well, she kind of talked to me."

"Let me guess, she said she was going to make your love life more complicated then our family tree?"

"Not exactly… Wait… She talked to you too didn't she?"

"Maybe…" I teased smirking at him, I could get information out of him, but he was not going to get that out of me." Our faces were like two inches apart, I smiled, remembering Mount Saint Helens. My fireworks display of every bead the camp has had since it moved to America started. Neither of us looked up to watch it.

"Why did you do it?" He asked me.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"I thought you were going to die. The prophecy said; _destroy with a hero's final breath_. Mount Saint Helens was destroyed; I thought it was going to be with your final breath. You shouldn't have come after me, but you did anyway. I had to repay you."

"Oh. I liked it."

"Me too."

And so as the last bead came up, the one with the Labyrinth on it, our lips met, it was only for a second, and I doubted it would make much of a difference, because then the hippocampus bucked us into the water. What happened next? Well, I'll leave that to you. Seriously, you're giving me _that_ face. Fine.

We fell into the water with a SPLASH! Percy laughed and spun me around the water, forgetting that I couldn't breathe. I did my best to smile while holding my breath. It took him a couple of minutes to get the message. An air bubble appeared around us. We both laughed as I tried to dry my hair that had been so carefully styled by Silena earlier. She was going to kill me.

Percy later told me that our kiss after we won the Second Titan War was the best underwater kiss of all time, its funny phrasing, because _I_ think that the one that happened on the Fourth of July was the best. Oh well, its something we'll always fight about. Let's go into more detail about what happened after I dried my hair.

I was ranting about how Silena was going to kill me, and Percy was helping trying to dry the hair off with his powers, but my hair is very thick and it wasn't working. The hippocampus that we'd been riding swam down to the bubble where we were sitting. It was examining us, eerily reminding me of Siren's bay. It seemed to remind Percy too because we both started laughing.

I was leaning against the side of the bubble, which popped and I went tumbling down through the water. Percy swam after me and created a different bubble. I was coughing up some seawater, and I guess he was trying to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but didn't know how to, because we ended up kissing again. This time it lasted longer. I felt like my head was on fire. That little voice that I had worked so hard to suppress earlier came tumbling through my head, and I didn't do anything to stop it. Eventually, we realized we should go back to the fireworks beach, we boarded the hippocampus and went speeding back to our sand dune where we sat and pretended that we'd been there the whole time.

I don't think either Silena or Megara believed we had been there, but no one had any proof against us. When Meg asked me why my hair was wet that night, I told her that Percy had pushed me into the water. Cadee laughed with Jaela because they obviously had guesses that were closer to the truth, if a little overdone. As I was tucking Meg in, she asked me, "Why do you keep flirting with Percy if you know he likes Rachel?"

"Because," I whispered back, "I'm still trying to see if she's not the only one he likes."

"Why?"

"Because if I never try I'll never know."

I hoped that the words I had told Meg were true, but it was hard to think with the kiss still ringing in my brain. So did Silena's words _Now, I really don't think that story about him pushing you into the water is true, but I have nothing to prove that it's not real. Trust me though, someday, a daughter of Aphrodite will know the truth_. I suppose she was talking about herself, but it did come true because now I'm telling you. Hmm, maybe Silena should've been the oracle.

_I don't know, but I think I may be fallin' for you_

_Droppin' so quickly, maybe I should keep this to myself_

_Wait until I know you better_

_I am tryin' not to tell you, but I want to_

_I'm scared of what you'll say_

_So I'm hiding what I'm feeling_

_But I'm tired of holding this inside my head_

_-Fallin' For You_ by Colbie Caillat

*: Okay, let's just assume that from here on out, everyone's a child of Athena

* *: I just couldn't resist. I don't care if by your calendar it wasn't out yet, it is in this fanfic.

* * *: Once again, couldn't resist. Rick doesn't have enough crossover themes; I just have to put some in mine.

* * * *: I just hate fanfictions where Percy's drooling, because he only drools in his sleep, and it's so OOC

* * * * *: Don't we all want to please our elders?

* * * * * *: Yes, this section is copied almost exactly from the Demigod Files.

* * * * * * *: I think we can all agree that Meg has an undoubtedly larger vocabulary than Percy

* * * * * * * *: I know Meg should have more common sense than that, but she has ADHD and is eight, can you blame her?

* * * * * * * * *: Once again, just couldn't resist

* * * * * * * * * *: Yes, Angelique is the stereotypical Aphrodite girl, unlike Piper or Silena

* * * * * * * * * * *: They actually did that in Ancient Greece

* * * * * * * * * * * *: If it is considered a date at that age

**Thank you for reading. There will be another chapter that takes place in the Lost Hero, once again from Meg's point of view, it might take a while seeing as how long this one is, but I'm willing to try. Rate and Review!**

**Smiles,**

**Readingqueen811**


	2. I'm Not Giving Up

**I've always been someone who understood, and respected cliffhangers…of course that didn't necessarily mean I liked it when a certain author (cough *Rick Riordan* cough) puts them at the end of every chapter and story. Here's how I see it: A cliffhanger is a good marketing technique. You make the fans die in waiting for a year, and they're almost guaranteed to buy the book. The fans in agony tell their friends how much they "hate" the author, which just makes their fans read the books and want to know why…bingo; a new set of fans already. During the period of time from when the Lost Hero came out to when the Son of Neptune came out, I was in a Harry Potter craze, so I didn't feel the agony that most of you did. Now, I'm wishing I was more prepared. So that's why I'm going to take a trip back in time for this chapter, and give Annabeth the pain of the waiting that I never had. Welcome to ****Δεν λέω****να σταματήσει**** (pronounced ****Den léo****̱**** na stamatí****̱****sei) [Ha! That has Leo in it!], the second chapter for my story I'm Still Trying, back by popular demand (well more subscriptions than reviews, seriously people, is typing **_**that**_** hard?)**

**Smiles,**

**Readingqueen811**

"Exactly," Jason agreed. "Percy Jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn't even remember who he is."

-Rick Riordan, _the Lost Hero_

"If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or forget him."

-Paulo Coelho, _By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept_

**Month 1:**

**_There is love of course. And then there's life, its enemy_.**

**-Jean Anouilh**

It had been Megara's tenth birthday the day Perseus Jackson; the savior of Olympus and boyfriend to Annabeth Chase (finally) disappeared. No one even bothered to give her as much as a second glance…except for Chiron and Aiden. Meg really couldn't blame them, she was worried too.

Three days after she turned ten (she was already feeling very mature), Charmer, Elf, and _Ro__̱__maïkí__̱_ (Roman) came to Camp Half Blood. Of course, those weren't really their names, but she was too angry no one had remembered her birthday to care what they really were. The three campers went on a quest after reassembling the Bronze Dragon that had brought so much love two years ago (but now only brought pain at the memories), ticking off Drew (the counselor who had taken over after Silena's *holds back a sob* death and who thought makeup was the best thing since plastic surgery), and finally, revealing that _Thalia Grace_, the Hunter who had _almost_ convinced Meg to join the Hunters of Artemis at the age of eight, had a freaking _brother_.

Then they had come back, with news, big news, news that Meg was "not allowed to know." Meg had given up pranking and eavesdropping when she turned ten, so she wasn't going to listen in to the meeting, but she knew she'd find out…eventually. As she watched her older sister Annabeth Chase (who had _finally_ remembered to give her a birthday present two days before) exit the big house, she caught one word: _Ro__̱__maïkí__̱_. That was why she called the blonde boy that.

"Filthy _Ro__̱__maíous_ and their stupid filthy other camp on the other side of the country!" Annabeth yelled as she stomped into the Athena cabin with her knife on her belt. Meg hadn't seen her look this murderous since Rachel Elizabeth Dare (the mortal who was now their oracle) flew into the battle of Manhattan in a helicopter.

Meg pretended not to listen as she brought out her book _The Throne of Fire _(hey, Aiden had gotten her interested in the series), but Annabeth wasn't fooled. "Megara." She started, her eyes still filled with rage. "You remember that conversation we had that night, the week of the fireworks, when you were eight?"

Meg nodded her head, turning the page, skimming over the part about_ a black Pegasus_. "I remember, it was what caused me to become friends with Aiden."

"Get Aiden…now!"

Meg walked over to the forge, where Aiden was sitting, helping Will and Nyssa (who were obviously in love) fix the chariot that Annabeth had destroyed three days after this whole mess started. She high fived him and then whispered "Remember the _thing_ you told me about two years ago? Well, remember how you said that blonde guy looked suspicious? Remember how you owe me big time? Well, Annabeth needs you…now!"

"Sorry guys, I've got to go." Aiden told Will and Nyssa, who looked like they appreciated him leaving, he flipped his hair out of his face, grabbed Meg's hand and they hurried to the Athena cabin.

It was only the three of them. Aiden recounted every detail that he could remember, and wasn't sworn by some sacred oath to keep, about the Romans. Every whisper, every secret that he'd shared with Meg over the past two years. Meg could practically feel their special bond slipping through her fingers as he spoke.

Annabeth just stood there, straight as a board. "Forget this ever happened. Jason can't know that you were there. I already don't trust him completely; I don't need the same coming back at us."

The two ten year olds nodded and slowly walked out of the Athena cabin to the strawberry fields. Once there, they lay in the grass and looked at the clouds. Usually, this would make Meg's day, but today the clouds just looked like spiked walls, lined tattoos, and faces of stony cold but seriously beautiful Roman girls who had their eye on Percy. Silena would understand. If only she was here. If only… The Charmer had become the head counselor for Aphrodite after threatening to shoot Drew in a cannon across Long Island Sound. Meg thought that that _might_ just be cool enough for Meg to know her name.

"Aiden."

"Yeah." He said, turning to her, his signature blonde hair looking like gold in the sun.

"I need to check on Annabeth. She may need someone."

"Okay." Their conversations these days went like that. A friendship that was okay at eight had started becoming noticed by the older campers, had started becoming a subject of gossip, although a small one, so it became awkward between them.

When Meg reached the fireworks beach, the one place she _knew_ Annabeth had been going this time of day since Percy disappeared, she found someone had beaten her to it. It was the Charmer. Okay, now she had to know this girl's name.

"No, you _don't_ know how it feels. At least _you_ were sure that you could keep Jason from having another girlfriend. He's somewhere in the country probably locking lips with some Ro̱maïkí̱ chick with pink hair and a permanent scowl. I appreciate the sympathy Piper, but it's not helping."

_Piper_, so that was the Charmer's name. Piper put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder, whispering something in her ear that just made Annabeth groan.

"You think I didn't _know_ that? Aphrodite's been squealing every time she sees me working on Olympus for the past six months! Hades, I even bet she's having an all out spat with Hera right now! Hello Megara."

"Hey Annabeth, hey Piper."

"You know my name?" Piper asked.

"Who doesn't?"

The three of them chatted for a while about absolutely nothing. They were careful to steer the subject away from their less-than-normal lives. Meg realized that, even though Piper was probably the worst thing that could've popped into their lives, she liked her. She was cool and casual, totally _not_ like Angelique or Drew, a real girl, who reminded Meg painstakingly of Silena. If only…

**Month 2:**

_**I know this shouldn't be a lonely time, but there were Christmases when you were mine.**_

**-_Christmases When You Were Mine,_ Taylor Swift**

If you've never faced an entire holiday week where absolutely _no one_ is smiling, _no one_ is laughing, and Christmas may be some exotic type of cheese for all anyone cares, then you know how deadly silent Camp Half Blood was as they were going into January.

Connor and Travis Stoll pulled no pranks. Clarisse didn't fight anyone. Charmspeak was only used to make people get out of bed and work on the Argo II. No basketball was played. The only time you ever saw anyone doing anything other than working on the Argo II was when they were either sleeping, or fighting in the Arena to make sure they were deadly enough to beat the _Ro__̱__maïkí__̱_ legion that only Jason, Meg, Aiden, and Annabeth knew about.

On New Years, there were none of the usual fireworks. There were no parties, no presents, and no kisses. The air smelled like oil and grease, people's clothes were covered in oil and grease, and even the camp food tasted like oil and grease. This applied to everyone except for Annabeth, who Chiron sent straight to San Francisco so that she would stop beating up Hermes kids for no apparent reason. That left no one to watch over Meg. It wasn't like she needed it or anything, she was ten now, and could hammer nails into a frame of a huge warship as well as she could swing a sword. Annabeth would come back to camp every other week, give a status report on how the search for the _Ro__̱__maïkí__̱_ camp was going, and glare at Jason with her now always stormy grey eyes.

The silver eye shadow was behind Annabeth, and the white angelic sundresses were behind Meg. They both seemed so long ago, in some happy world where nothing went wrong. Now the only color on Annabeth's eyes was the dark circles from lack of sleep. Now soot stained jeans and a ratty old sweatshirt were the only thing that adorned Megara. Meg barely even talked to Aiden these days. She had accused him of being too "sunny" the second day of January, which had resulted in him calling her too pessimistic and a know it all. Meg had left the arena in tears.

Meg held her tears back for Annabeth and Piper's sake. Her problems weren't nearly as big as theirs. _She_ wasn't the one crushing on a guy who probably had a girlfriend on the other side of a country. _She_ wasn't the one with a boyfriend who was probably kissing a Roman and who didn't even remember her. She was just a ten-year old with normal ten-year old problems that nobody cared about…except for her.

In January alone they got the entire frame of the ship done. January was a cold, cruel, emotionless month, in which they became a regiment, they became Spartans, they became merciless, emotionless, and cruel.

The best example of that is in a conversation Meg overheard Clarisse have with one of her siblings:

"You do realize that this isn't healthy for anyone right?" The sibling asked.

"Yes. You do realize that Annabeth is just doing the same thing Prissy did when she was captured by Atlas punk right?" Clarisse replied.

"We are becoming robots."

"We are becoming _strong_ robots who are going to kill those _Ro__̱__maíoi_ so hard they'll think they just entered Tartarus."

"How are we going to do that?"

"We're robots right? And robots _never_ lose."

That conversation scared Meg more than she'd admit it. She normally would've told Aiden or Annabeth about it, but Aiden wasn't speaking to her, and Annabeth was in San Francisco…so she told Piper. And Piper knew just what to do.

**Month 3:**

_**"February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long."**_

**-Anna Quindlen, _One True Thing_**

Meg never knew Piper had it in her. The first thirteen days of February flew by exactly like January. You couldn't have told the difference if shown a tape from the two months. Then Piper surprised everyone by dragging Annabeth from San Francisco, setting up a romantic Karaoke, and single-handedly decorating the entire Camp Half Blood with hearts (okay, maybe she had a little help from Aphrodite) while the rest of camp was asleep.

Meg and Aiden ended up singing a duet together and making up. It wasn't a romantic song or anything, but it ended a month-long fight. Piper _finally_ got together with Jason. **(A/N: If you want more information, read Feeling Silena, and Greek Chiton, Roman Toga; Greek Tunic, Roman Stola)** Meg had to admit that she'd suspected it. Leo, on the other hand, spent the entire rest of the month flirting with every girl his age that was available and not his sibling. That worked out really well until Meg showed him their godly family tree and grossed him out.

Annabeth, I can say, did not take the news of Piper and Jason dating well. She yelled and screamed at them. They just gave her sympathetic looks. If Jason got a new girlfriend, what was stopping Percy? Nothing was the correct answer, absolutely nothing. Meg's dreams were haunted by owls, icebergs, giants, and freaky Romans with pink hair. Meg would wake up in the middle of the night crying for no reason. When Annabeth went back to San Francisco in tears, everyone agreed never to _ever_ become robots again. After the fourteenth, it felt like they were dying all over again. The shiny wooden planks that made up the shell of the Argo II were all that were added in February.

Meg's ratty t-shirts and soot-stained jeans were replaced with blue sweaters and clean jeans. Some days she'd just sit with Aiden and use their bows and arrows to shoot screws into the Argo II since they were the only ones besides Jason and Piper working with Leo on the Argo II. Since they weren't twelve yet, and couldn't be smelled as easily by monsters, Chiron let them go together to Time's Square and watch the mortals go about their busy lives. Sometimes, when Meg closed her eyes she could just sit there and pretend she was normal.

February was a month of death, a month of romance, a month of tears, and a month of Leo catching himself on fire. February was the month of the first Valentine's Day Karaoke, the month of Crush sodas being snuck into camp by Meg and the Stolls, and the month of remembrance for Silena, who would've loved it.

If you ever are in New York in February, make sure to just stand there for a moment, close your eyes and picture what Meg must've felt, because February was the month that Annabeth's spirit died, Meg's spirit calmed, Piper's spirit soared in the clouds with Jason, and Aiden's spirit brought light to the world.

**Month 4:**

**_"March is a month of considerable frustration - it is so near spring and yet across a great deal of the country the weather is still so violent and changeable that outdoor activity in our yards seems light years away."  
_- Thalassa Cruso**

To say that March was a happy springtime filled with dancing bunny rabbits and shining sun is an understatement. To start off, it was dancing _chocolate_ bunny rabbits on the Demeter cabin's roof which was carefully planned by the Stolls and Meg. Katie Gardiner's protests and insults (who knew that αξιολύπητη δικαιολογία για μια ημίθεος meant a pathetic excuse for a demigod?) Secondly, all the Apollo campers added solar panels to their roof, which made it _much_ sunnier in camp. It almost felt normal…almost.

Meg tossed and turned the first day of March. Gaea shouldn't have been affecting her so much; _she_ wasn't one of the seven, she was only a miniscule detail in the major scheme of life, and she liked it that way. No big scary prophecies about what you were going to do on your somethingth birthday can kind of guarantee your immediate dismissal from the "I hate my life" club.

March was also the month that Lacy and Drew were sent by Chiron to Brooklyn to go to a school. They called it BAG. No joke. Meg wasn't jealous. She liked eating strawberries when Chiron wasn't looking and throwing the little snow (or should I say ice) that was left at Aiden.

There was so much she wanted to say to him, but she knew that would have to wait…a long time. Dating at the age of ten wasn't going to guarantee anything. Dating at any age younger than fifteen was practically going to guarantee breakup after a week. **(A/N: Believe me, I have evidence to prove it.)** So instead of worry about what Aiden meant to her, she read…a lot. Piper had just found out about some Roman named _Reyna_ (it means queen in Spanish) who would've been Jason's girlfriend given time, and she wasn't too happy about it. It really didn't help when Meg pointed out that the ancient Amazons considered love triangles sacred. Apparently, Reyna's sister was an Amazon. How coincidental.

When Annabeth visited the camp, she looked less worried, Meg supposed that was because she'd done some exploring around Caldecott Tunnel and, sure enough, there were always two sentries guarding it. They'd found the Roman camp. Annabeth had done her duty, but she was liking it in California. To say the least, everyone was relieved. Annabeth really needed to get into the sun more often, and eat a couple hundred cheeseburgers (she'd completely refused to eat at camp up until then).

T-shirts and Capri's replaced the sweaters and jeans of February for Meg. The owl earrings returned for Annabeth. There was a kind of buzz in the air that made everyone feel excited. Just a couple more days… they were saying. That is until Gaea and Khione decided to mess with them. The sail froze and wouldn't thaw. Building materials would be sucked into the ground. Another thing that slowed them down was Leo, who was designing a Wii control system or something like that. Everyone agreed it was impractical and a waste of precious time, but Leo didn't listen. What could you expect from him?

**Month 5:**

"**April hath put a spirit of youth in everything."**

**-William Shakespeare**

I suppose that Meg and Aiden were at the desired age for April. And I suppose Demeter and Dionysus were the only cabins that really had control in April, since Aphrodite ruled in February. Grapes, strawberries, and every type of flower imaginable were all over Camp Half Blood. Meg had taken to gathering every new one she saw and giving them to Piper for the dried flower perfume someone in Aphrodite was making to be sold by the Stoll brothers.

Annabeth didn't even show up in April, which they supposed was better for her. It meant she was actually _doing_ something. The Argo II's mainsail, mast, storage area, TV, lounge etc. were added in April. It was fun for everyone. Life could not have been more different from the cold robotic monotone they'd lived in during January.

Meg had started turning to reading Shakespeare to take her mind off of the impending war, Aiden, the trip to Camp Jupiter, Aiden, Gaea, and well, you get the idea. At the moment she was favoring A Midsummer Night's Dream. Sometimes she would start talking like Shakespeare wrote, which confused the Hades out of most of the campers. Meg had started to really like Piper, but she was no replacement for Silena. Piper was more _reserved_. She didn't wear bubblegum pink dresses, she didn't put couples together as if they were just two pieces of paper being stapled together, but she did have that same attitude that Silena did. The kind that showed she was more than just a pretty face.

Percy's face was starting to drift away from Meg. All the stories that people were telling Piper, Leo, and Jason were masking the real person with flesh and blood Meg knew he was. The stories made him seem like some character in a New York Times best-selling series. **(A/N: See what I did there?)**

Meg started wearing mid-thigh shorts (fondly remembering Annabeth's protests from two years ago), and tank tops. One day she found Annabeth on the beach talking to Piper. Meg was confused, Annabeth wasn't supposed to be here, then she smacked herself; it was a silly Iris message. Meg listened as Annabeth recounted what _really_ happened at the fireworks. Meg smiled, she _knew_ it wasn't just Percy pushing Annabeth in the water!

Meg stayed hidden as the story ended. Two years ago she might've popped out of the bushes and scared them. Instead she just reminisced. How those years had flown by. How the pages of her life and turned so quickly. **(A/N: Sorry, just couldn't resist)** Maybe, just maybe, this war would fly by that quickly too.

**Month 6:**

"**What potent blood hath modest May."**

**Ralf Waldo Emerson**

May was the month that everything changed. May was the month with the frantic Iris messages. May was the month that the Eclipse happened. May was the month of Annabeth's birthday. May was the month that Annabeth saw Percy. Of course, he didn't really see her, and only she believed it was him, but it made her so happy that she said she'd come to camp for a day before going back to San Francisco. **(A/N: Read **_**Slipping Through My Fingers**_** for the story because Meg doesn't even know the half of it)** Meg personally thought that the Percy withdrawal was starting to affect Annabeth and she was hallucinating, but no one was going to rain on Annabeth's parade, no matter how skeptic.

"He wasn't even _at _the Roman Camp yet!" She said through the Iris Message. Everyone understood what she was really excited about; Percy _could not_ have gotten a new girlfriend if he was still wandering around California trying to find a camp while being chased by Gorgons. "And Artemis gave me a Pegasus so if I _do_ see him again, I can follow him and…"

"Annabeth, you sound like some crazy stalker." Piper told her blatantly. "Just be happy that he's not there yet. Don't start stalking some poor person."

"But he had his sword, and his eyes, and…"

"Let it go." Meg told her.

The chariot races had started in May. Meg of course, was not allowed to help with _anything_ because there were so many Athena campers, so instead she worked on the Argo II. Even with the forces of snow and earth against them, the Argo II was making tons of progress; they might even be able to set sail by the summer solstice.

Leo was so excited these days that someone (usually Aiden) had to stand next to him with a bucket at all times in case his hair burst into flame or something. Jason, on the other hand, was starting to really tick off some people. They just didn't see how he could be a suitable replacement for Percy. For one thing, in the entire time he'd been at camp he didn't sneak out, find anything important that could aid them in the war, or whoop anybody hard at Capture the Flag. He was just too formal, too strict, and too Roman. If you asked Meg, the most exciting thing he ever did was try to eat a stapler when he was two, and that was _before_ he went to the Roman Camp.

I suppose that what everyone's fears were was that Percy would become like that; completely devoid of personality. That although he would remember them, he would just be some robot; kind of like they were in January. The word Roman was soon replaced with Robot when Jason wasn't around. It was kind of like their little inside joke. Sure, they didn't have a city, but why would they need it, they were family.

Meg would glace at Jason and try to piece together his thoughts, trying to understand how someone could be so boring and devoid of personality. She would just _stare_ at him some days and ask herself why he was who he was. So far, she had discovered that he just wasn't good enough in a history to compare to Percy Jackson. Of course, telling Jason that was a big no-no, for now anyway.

May was also the month that the _Serpent's Shadow_ came out. Meg and Aiden were hitting themselves in the head with the books during chapter five. There were characters exactly like Drew and Lacy! And they were friends with the Kanes! It was just too good to be true. Drew and Lacy quickly denied any involvement, but Meg swore she saw a blush creeping onto their cheeks. Meg was going to find out what that was about… sooner or later.

**Month 7:**

"**June cackled with delight, muttering, "Whoops!" as a car almost killed them."  
― Rick Riordan, _The Son of Neptune_**

No one was really that happy in June. For one thing, it was named after the Roman aspect of the goddess who had turned their lives upside down. In fact, no sacrifices or prayers or anything was made to her. Connor and Travis Stoll even put little cow bobble heads in her cabin. They weren't blasted, so one can only assume that Hera thought of them as a gift.

Dirty looks were sent towards the cabin, and superstitions started about it. Those were probably fueled by the campers who had been at school and didn't even know Percy was missing yet. Meg laughed at these clueless campers who were just experiencing the shock from seven months ago. They seemed so naive and fragile, like little butterflies.

It was in this month that Tyson left camp with Mrs. O'Leary to search for camp, while leaving some of his Cyclopes friends to work on the Argo II. The finishing touches were being put on. The Bronze Dragon's head (who Leo had named Festus, which meant Happy in Latin according to Jason) was one of those finishing touches.

"How do you think the Robots will react to us?" Aiden asked her one day as they were doing their usual ritual of lying in the strawberry fields watching the clouds.

"Robots have feelings?"

"No, just reactions."

"Then I think they'll immediately start firing cannons and stuff at us. We should get Piper to do some of her charmspeak."

"Good idea, and maybe hoist Jason up the mast as a white flag." They both laughed at that one.

"You do realize we won't be on the Argo II when they arrive."

"_I_ may not be because they'd recognize me on sight, but you can get on. I found a compartment for you to sit in on the ride and not be found."

"Really?"

"Yes."

A couple of Aphrodite girls started pointing at them and whispering, so they parted ways and Meg went to the training Arena, where she found Leo…who was setting the dummies on fire.

"Hold up Supreme Commander of the Argo II," She teased, "Other people need to use those too."

"Hey, that's a good nickname! I'm going to use that! Thanks Megara!"

"Oh please, I'm not that red haired character from the Hercules movie. I've told you a _billion_ times to call me MEG!" That pretty much ended the conversation.

**Month 8:**

"**But Annabeth just smiled and put us in jail. As she was heading back to the front line, she turned and winked.  
"See you at the fireworks?"  
She didn't even wait for my answer before darting off into the woods.  
I looked at Beckendorf. "Did she just...ask me out?"  
He shrugged, completely disgusted. "Who knows with girls? Give me a haywire dragon, any day."  
So we sat together and waited while the girls won the game."  
― Rick Riordan, _The Demigod Files_**

July. According to Jason it was special because of the Feast of Fortuna, at which Connor Stoll said "You have a feast for tuna? These Romans are weirder than I thought." According to Annabeth it was special because it was the month that the Declaration of Independence was signed. According to Meg it was special because of the event that had happened in this month two years ago.

The Fireworks for camp came on July fourth. Jason went with Piper, Will went with Nyssa, Travis went with Katie, Annabeth didn't show up, and Meg went with Aiden…you know, just as friends. The rumors that floated around were that she was chasing Percy up to Alaska on a Pegasus and making sure he didn't fall in love with the girl who was on a quest with him. **(A/N: A hint for the second chapter of Slipping Through My Fingers)** Meg didn't believe it.

The fireworks weren't nearly as impressive as they had been the year before, or two years before. The fireworks were a halfhearted display of gratitude for the country that had unknowingly adopted the Greek (and Roman) Gods.

After the fireworks, the only work that was done on the Argo II was to fix what Gaea and Khione had done to it. They left Camp on June 25th, the day after Jason's special 'Feast of Tuna.' They indeed _did_ use Jason as a white flag. Well, they didn't string him on the mast like Meg and Aiden had suggested, but still, he didn't look too happy about the arrangement.

Annabeth came back to camp. No mention of Percy or why she was supposedly last seen near a glacier in Alaska. She smiled to herself at random times, but she always was looking behind her, as if she expected someone to hold a knife to her throat. Strange.

"Annabeth," She asked when Annabeth came back. "If you did see Percy in San Francisco, then why did you stay there?"

"Because, I'm not giving up on him yet, I wanted to make sure he remembered me for things that were….different than you'd expect."

"What?"

"Alaska."

That pretty much ended their Percy conversation.

Meg hid on the little compartment of the Argo II and watched as it lifted off the ground and sailed over the US to the Robot Camp (Camp Jupiter, which Aiden called Camp Stupider). They reached the Camp, and Meg heard an argument going on above between Annabeth and some guy. Meg wondered who it was. The ship never landed. Once she didn't hear anything anymore, she tiptoed out of the compartment, looked over the railing and saw…. Well, you'll just have to wait until October.

_What you see is not what you get_

_With you there's just no measurement_

_No way to tell what's real from what isn't there_

_Your eyes they sparkle that's all changed_

_Into lies that dropped like acid rain_

_You washed away the best of me, you don't care_

_-Gone, _Kelly Clarkson

**I just seem to be in the mood for cliffhangers these days, don't I? But once again, I'm just marketing the Mark of Athena to all you people. Hit or miss? I didn't write any more because I wanted this to be as close to the series as possible. In case you didn't notice, most of my stories overlap. I might do a flashback for the next chapter if you guys want, maybe some Last Olympian, how do you feel about that? Please review and tell me what you think. This was really fun.**

**Smiles,**

**Readingqueen811**


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